13. Golden Gift, Silver Gift

“This is something I purified from the Curses released by Goleth, the evil god’s apostle.
I also tried to purify the Curse that added〔Enchantment〕to HP and MP, but that was originally something that was forcibly added by shaving off Goleth’s lifespan, so I couldn’t turn it into a form I could bestow to you.”

“……Would you give me both if I said I didn’t want either?”

“I would very much like to do that, but my power will also be consumed even when purifying an apostle. Which skill would you like?”

[Enchant Magic] or [Toughness], huh.
If I had to choose one,

“Then I’ll go with [Enchant Magic].”

I extend my hand towards the vortex of magic.
The vortex slowly dissipates as it gets sucked into my body.

[Toughness] is squashed as the goddess kneads it with both hands, and is then compressed to the size of a marble and tossed into her mouth.

Given that a component of [Toughness] seems to prevent one from staggering even when they have received an attack, it’s basically a lesser form of [No Fatigue] so I didn’t feel much regret.
It only prevents staggering, and damage is still sustained so I don’t think it’s of much use as an infant.

“And about the 《Evil God’s Curse of Calamity》. I also purified that, but it’s difficult to make it into a Gift for a skill or stat so I’ll just use it to enhance your 《Goddess of Virtue’s Blessing》.”

The goddess brings her face close to me, and kisses my cheek.

But even though I say that, my form is that of an infant. The image it produced was no more than a woman giving a kiss to a baby because of its adorableness.

Hmm.
The blessing has certainly been enhanced; the compensation for the skills’ learning and growth has been increased to medium.
I think [Enchant Magic] had reached counter stop when Goleth used it, but it has returned to level 1 for me.
Because a Gift becomes a skill after harmonising with the expertise of the person themself, it starts at level 1 when it is bestowed to me, who has no experience with [Enchant Magic].

……Also, I didn’t notice it before, but [Throwing Spear Skills] has been added normally.
It might be because I used [Physics Magic] to throw Goleth’s spears back. Even that was treated as throwing a spear, huh.
It seems experimenting to see what counts as ‘spear throwing’ will be fun.

“Now then, I suppose this is it. Do you have any questions?”

I wonder if something happened.
I think there won’t be many opportunities like this, so I should ask what I can.

“I still don’t know what happened to the slasher after he was reincarnated, nor his name in this life.”

“Yes. I apologise. However, it’s true that he was reincarnated into a baby just like you, so you shouldn’t meet until much later.”

“What is 《Baby Scarlet》?”

“That’s a nickname. The acquisition condition is for a certain number of people to use that name to refer to you with feelings of awe.”

“How long will this growth sleep last?”

“For a normal person, it would be their level × 3 hours. In your case, [No Fatigue] is functioning so it should be around 10 minutes per level.”

My level is rising by 30, which means I will be sleeping for 300 minutes ― 5 hours.

“Speaking of 10 minutes, I wonder if it’s alright to think of it as the same when I exhaust all my MP and faint?”

“You are perceptive. It’s exactly that.
However, increasing one’s Mana pool through MP exhaustion is something that only occurs among people with《Virtuous Gods’ Blessing》《Evil God’s Curse of Calamity》, or those who possess a nickname related to magic.
In regards to those close to you, you and your mother may increase your maximum MP in this way, but it’s impossible for your father.’

“Is Growth Sleep necessary even when skill levels increase?”

“There are cases when it becomes necessary according to the situation, but fundamentally, the renewal of skills occur during one’s sleep at night.
For you, there is no need to sleep, so the same process is carried out by the [No Fatigue] skill while you are awake .”

“What the heck is up with that ‘no need to sleep’ thing?
I heard that in the previous world, sleep is absolutely necessary for living creatures of a certain level of complexity.”

“In your case, the effects of the skill serve as a substitute for the vital functions normally carried out during one’s sleep, such as memory regulation and resting of the mind.
The details are…… I suppose there’s no point in explaining.
Even if I were to bring one of the top neuroscientists from your former world, they wouldn’t be able to comprehend it even with one or two months.”

“Is there no danger of Growth Sleep occurring and falling asleep in combat?”

“It is difficult for Growth Sleep to call upon someone in battle, so there will never be a time when you will fall asleep when fighting.”

“Apart from me, are there any reincarnates on the side of the gods of virtue?”

“There are none. The only one who can reincarnate souls from different worlds, is I alone. In addition, it consumes a great amount of power so I seldom do it. Based on the trend in this battle against the evil god, but you can assume that I won’t be able to do it in the next 10 years.
But there should be humans who have received the divine blessing of other gods, so it’s alright to try talking to them if you find any.”

I was about to ask how I am supposed to find them, but it was clear with a little bit of thinking.
I can just use [Appraisal] and search for those who possess 《Goddess of Virtue’s Blessing》 in their status.

“Then, is it okay to expect the humans who have received blessings from the other gods to be amicable?”

“Fundamentally, it should be so. However, they are humans who the gods are pleased with, so it might be better to think of them as idiosyncratic.”

That seems fun.

“Are there any tricks raising my skills?”

“I believe you already know, but skill levels rise faster when using them in combat compared to using them normally.
Immediately after meeting the conditions for a Gift or raising a skill level, the sensation one feels when using the skill changes so be careful.
As for raising one’s skills normally, doing nothing but repeating the same action over and over, just like you did, is actually an effective method.
However, sometimes changing your perspective and exploring a different training method can be effective as well. There have also been times when skills rose after making new discoveries for certain things.
Well, it’s fine to consider it no different to the techniques you were accustomed to in your previous world.”

As I was asking those questions, my body had steadily been turning transparent.

“……It is almost time.
This time it was because you were thrust into Growth Sleep after the incident with Goleth, but this kind of thing can’t be done normally.
If you ever wish to contact me, visit my shrine and acquire the [Prayer] skill.

The goddess said something inexcusable, like shrines are a treasure house of skills.

As I become increasingly transparent, my body is drawn by the planet’s gravity and I fall down to Marquekt.

――I said thank you, but I don’t know whether it was heard.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Have you ever felt like you are falling while in a light sleep and then wake up with a sudden jerk?

That’s it.

“Fugya.”

While producing such a strange sound, I woke up on top of a bed.

I was in Alfred-tousan’s residence in the fortress, where we had slept yesterday.

The sky, which could be seen from a small window fitted with an iron lattice, had already fallen to dusk.

《Spirit of Fire’s Blessing》(Is able to acquire the blessing of fire spirits. Compensation for the effect | range of fire attributed spells, increased speed for the learning | growth for fire magic skills.) 》

She’s gotten stronger again somehow!
And there was a 《Spirit of Fire’s Blessing》or something attached without me realising.

Anyway, I calculate Julia-kaasan’s Growth Sleep to be (51-47) x 3 hours, a total of 12 hours.
Assuming that she fell asleep at the same time as me, there’s another 7 hours remaining.

I got up and descended from the bed, onto the floor. The room was dim, due to the window being small
……Hm?

Wasn’t there something strange just now?

When I looked down at my own body, I was lost for words. For some reason,
“I.. I gwew!” (I.. I grew!)

You seem to misunderstand something, he woke up in the same day since 5 hours later it was dusk, which means they fought about when the sun was at the highest point in the sky (which is a good tactical decision, not as good as having the sun on your back) So he technically used to be a baby today!

technically, best tactic is to attack at Aria. Anytime during the day or evening, they’ll be rested. People also wake up easily if stirred in the middle of the night. The height of exhaustion is actually just before dawn.

If your focusing on lighting, then noon would be a good time…for the defending side…this was actually a poorly planned attack, wasn’t it?